BEIJING - Foreign ministry spokesman Chen Jian made the remarks in response to a question about foreign reports that Beijing was preparing to push ahead soon with selecting a new Panchen Lama, ignoring the boy proclaimed by the Dalai Lama, Tibet's highest religious leader, in May.

"Choosing the successor of the Panchen Lama is an affair to be decided by the selection committee, the decision-making authority lies with the Chinese government," said Chen.

"That is something decided by history and tradition and that is also a symbol of China's sovereignty over Tibet. This process is not the business of the Dalai Lama," he said.

China reacted furiously to the Dalai Lama's announcement of six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989. The move is believed to have come just as Beijing was preparing to make its own final selection from three candidates.

A report in Hong Kong Wednesday said senior lamas had been summoned to Beijing this month and told to prepare to carry out divination using a golden urn.

The Chinese government accuses the Dalai Lama of going against tradition by failing to gain its prior consent for his choice and failing to resort to the golden urn - a method that the religious leader has said is only used if all others fail.

There will be two rival Panchen Lamas if Beijing pushes ahead with its selection, forcing Tibetans to choose between respecting the one chosen by their reverred religious leader or their political rulers.

When asked about the fate of the Dalai Lama's choice - believed to be being held in Beijing - Chen said, "as far as I know he is safe and sound."

More than 30 Tibetan lamas and monks suspected of collaborating with the Dalai Lama have also been detained, including Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of the Panchen Lama's monastery and formerly the head of Beijing's selection team.